This site aggrivates me/ Answers anyone

dsteveb2
dsteveb2 Posts: 9 Member
edited September 18 in Health and Weight Loss
Can someone help with a couple of things. My wife and I have been using the site for a couple of weeks now. Anytime I enter a food not listed and select let my fitness pals use it too, it is never there. I will log out and my wife will log in and try to enter the same thing I just did and it isn't there. We have to enter everything all over again. For whatever reason, the foods appear not to be saving.

The other thing I would like to know is where are some people coming up with the nutritional values that are entered into this site. Several things I have put in are listed completely different on this site compared to the label I am reading, and they are the exact same product. One example is an egg: Unless there is a science to cooking that I am unaware of, how can an egg have more or less calories depending on how it is cooked, I.E. scrambled or fried, even hard boiled. I do not see how this is possible unless you fry or scramble the egg w/ butter or seasonings.

Can someone educate me on these two topics please. The food not saving in the system and the incorrect values entered in the nutrition system here have aggrivated me to no end the last couple of weeks. :mad:

Replies

  • dsteveb2
    dsteveb2 Posts: 9 Member
    Can someone help with a couple of things. My wife and I have been using the site for a couple of weeks now. Anytime I enter a food not listed and select let my fitness pals use it too, it is never there. I will log out and my wife will log in and try to enter the same thing I just did and it isn't there. We have to enter everything all over again. For whatever reason, the foods appear not to be saving.

    The other thing I would like to know is where are some people coming up with the nutritional values that are entered into this site. Several things I have put in are listed completely different on this site compared to the label I am reading, and they are the exact same product. One example is an egg: Unless there is a science to cooking that I am unaware of, how can an egg have more or less calories depending on how it is cooked, I.E. scrambled or fried, even hard boiled. I do not see how this is possible unless you fry or scramble the egg w/ butter or seasonings.

    Can someone educate me on these two topics please. The food not saving in the system and the incorrect values entered in the nutrition system here have aggrivated me to no end the last couple of weeks. :mad:
  • diannholland1965
    diannholland1965 Posts: 782 Member
    Well, I can not tell you why your foods are not saving, that is something for Mike.
    But as the different calories for things, Well that comes from people that enter in things and use information found on the net, instead of what is on the label. I know it is frustrating, but that is the way it is.
    :cry: Sorry.
    --Diann...
  • Cowboy
    Cowboy Posts: 369 Member
    I asked the same question awhile back about the food not saving to the database. No one was able to give me an answer. Maybe someone has figured it out by now.
    Cowboy
  • ah, maybe you should join another site more suitable to your needs
  • I save all of my foods, and i see them there almost instatly, the only thign that doesnt work is the "save and create another" button when adding food

    Maybe there is a compatabiliy issue regarding the naming of the item and ther already being a previously entered item, but honestly im not sure

    dont le it get you down man. keep your mind in the game
  • brunion
    brunion Posts: 60 Member
    remember this site is free so make the best of it it will get better as it gets bigger and you get smaller:bigsmile:
  • I've always assumed that the calories listed for a fried egg include the oil or butter you put in the pan, and so on for scrambled etc.
  • deanea
    deanea Posts: 1,437
    For most everything I eat I enter it in as my own foods, I rarely use the mfp database,I too found right from the start there were differences in cal. calculations.
  • dhayes
    dhayes Posts: 216 Member
    When you enter foods, check under the my foods tab to ensure that they actually saved. If not I wonder if you have a browser issue...just guessing.

    As for the nutritional values, I have found that the values can vary somewhat I assume that is because the nutritional values in foods vary slightly in different regions perhaps even from batch to batch. Maybe the manufacturer changed the ingredients slightly. So far the differences don't seem to be huge. When I have doubts I double check the values at other sites like:

    http://fnic.nal.usda.gov/nal_display/index.php?info_center=4&tax_level=1&tax_subject=242

    It can be frustrating but worth it to continue using the site even with the minor irritations. Good luck.
  • my mom, husband, and i all use this site...i know everytime i have to enter something new i have to do it 3 times....i believe it says that it will not save for everyones view untill the facts are proven to be correct...i hope i said that right..... but when i save it once for all of us and say i use the same thing the next day it is there me US to view.....hope that helps..

    as for your other question....this site or any site can not be 100% just this of it as a estimate ..i always use what is the closest to what i am eating and say there are 2 i use the higher if them....just to be on the safe side...for me i need a book on counting calories for dummies...lol...but this site has helped me get a general idea of what i am putting in my mouth....to be honest even if i wern't trieing to lose weight i would still be useing this site....

    hope this all made sence i just woke up and havn't had coffee yet....lol....

    just keep doing what your doing and try not to the let the little things get you down....you can do it just as we all can....good luck to you and your wife
  • rheston
    rheston Posts: 638
    my wife and I don't have the issue of finding newly entered and shared food items we did have a glitch early on and that was due to the fact we didn't enter the foods like we posted them like using General Mills as the Brand/Restaurant name to start.

    I would agree with dhayes that you may have a browser issue. Are you using FireFox or MS Internet Explorere? I have better success with FireFox myself -- personal preference.

    Make it work for you and keep the site webmaster informed about your issues so that he can correct it wherever possible.:drinker:
  • I use the "Save Meal" feature all the time and it works for me but I have noticed that it takes a minute to show up. I click the Save Meal then home then come back and click on my meals and it is listed. To add it to a meal for the day I just search for whatever I named it as and it pulls up. Maybe try that!:smile:
  • GinaB30
    GinaB30 Posts: 725 Member
    I enter my own foods and then hit the "remember this meal" button and they still show up another day. =o)
  • dsteveb2
    dsteveb2 Posts: 9 Member
    I enter my own foods and then hit the "remember this meal" button and they still show up another day. =o)

    My foods aren't the issue. If I look for a food, most of the time if I find it the nutrition values are incorrect. So then I take the time to enter the food for myself. I then add it to my meal that applies at that time. I always save it and choose let my fitness pals use it too. After I log out and my wife logs in, the food I just entered isn't in the data base. We have to enter it all over again. The foods stay in my profile for me to select again If I need too, they just aren't there for others to use, ala my wife. That is what is frustrating.
  • yoginimary
    yoginimary Posts: 6,789 Member
    I think it takes a few days for it to be available to everyone.
  • jhacker
    jhacker Posts: 301 Member
    I wonder if Mike is overloaded with the inputs ,and it may take a while for them to be available for everyone because they want to check them out and make sure they are legit?
    I have had the same issue with friends trying to find things I have put in, and I have done this through many other computers, so I don't believe it is a computer issue.
  • watch48win
    watch48win Posts: 1,668 Member
    I enter my own foods and then hit the "remember this meal" button and they still show up another day. =o)

    My foods aren't the issue. If I look for a food, most of the time if I find it the nutrition values are incorrect. So then I take the time to enter the food for myself. I then add it to my meal that applies at that time. I always save it and choose let my fitness pals use it too. After I log out and my wife logs in, the food I just entered isn't in the data base. We have to enter it all over again. The foods stay in my profile for me to select again If I need too, they just aren't there for others to use, ala my wife. That is what is frustrating.
    Trust me it's not you. My husband and myself have the same problem. I enter a food item, save it for others to use, and it is not there when he goes to log in his entry. I can see it under my screen name, but not his. We too have to enter manual food entries twice. Hopefully, they will get that fixed.
  • I've always assumed that the calories listed for a fried egg include the oil or butter you put in the pan, and so on for scrambled etc.

    From what I've been able to tell, this is the case. Sometimes (usually ) I enter the food in a more "pure" form, and add the oil myself, because I find that I can fry up almost anything in one tsp of oil, and I worry that the assumed amount in a "scrambled egg" may be more. Either way, these are all estimates. Using other sites to cross check your values also helps a lot.

    This site is awesome for keeping track of your intake and exercise, and I love the nutrient reports for checking my weekly potassium, sodium, calcium intakes, etc. The database is definitely the weakest link, but like I said there are plenty of other sites you can use if only to check nutritional info.
  • skinnydreams
    skinnydreams Posts: 1,178 Member
    Just a comment about the nutritional values discrepency........I'm from Canada and travel to the US frequently and buy similar grocery items in both countries. I have noticed that many items have different serving sizes and few minor ingredient changes, it's unfortunate but it means we have different nutritional values for the "same" food. I will definitely make sure that I enter CND behind my food items that I save to the database....hope that helps!
  • ah, maybe you should join another site more suitable to your needs

    I am just so sorry for posting this :cry: I was having a bad day and I took it out on you. Please accept my apologies and be sure I have taught myself a valuable lesson. I always so appreciate the support here whatever my question, I know and believe we are all moving forward and sometimes it gets us down but I need to find a better way to take out my own frustration than lash out at someone struggling with the same problems as me! Good luck
  • deanea
    deanea Posts: 1,437
    ah, maybe you should join another site more suitable to your needs

    I am just so sorry for posting this :cry: I was having a bad day and I took it out on you. Please accept my apologies and be sure I have taught myself a valuable lesson. I always so appreciate the support here whatever my question, I know and believe we are all moving forward and sometimes it gets us down but I need to find a better way to take out my own frustration than lash out at someone struggling with the same problems as me! Good luck
    [/quote]


    :smile: :flowerforyou:
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,458 Member
    Can someone help with a couple of things. My wife and I have been using the site for a couple of weeks now. Anytime I enter a food not listed and select let my fitness pals use it too, it is never there. I will log out and my wife will log in and try to enter the same thing I just did and it isn't there. We have to enter everything all over again. For whatever reason, the foods appear not to be saving.

    The other thing I would like to know is where are some people coming up with the nutritional values that are entered into this site. Several things I have put in are listed completely different on this site compared to the label I am reading, and they are the exact same product. One example is an egg: Unless there is a science to cooking that I am unaware of, how can an egg have more or less calories depending on how it is cooked, I.E. scrambled or fried, even hard boiled. I do not see how this is possible unless you fry or scramble the egg w/ butter or seasonings.

    Can someone educate me on these two topics please. The food not saving in the system and the incorrect values entered in the nutrition system here have aggrivated me to no end the last couple of weeks. :mad:

    Here is what Mike said (webmaster) recently on this subject:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/2072-foods-entered

    ~Here is the quote:
    _________________
    Sorry guys - right now, its super slow because I have to manually approve all of the foods people are offering to share. This is just to ensure that the foods shared are accurate, entered correctly, etc.

    I'm trying to come up with a new system where the whole community can help fact-check the food database so that new foods can be shared instantly (or at least in a very short period of time). Unfortunately, for now, the sharing system really isn't working at all at the moment.

    Sorry for the bad news, but I hope to have an improved system in shortly...
    _______________________________
    (cmriverside again below:)

    I haven't found many foods to be inaccurate... If the foods are member-submitted you can "confirm" the food, and when people "confirm" then the number of member confirmations will show in the nutrition box.

    If you have the time, shoot a message to Mike under the Technical Support or Website Suggestion threads when you find one that is wrong..
  • mydogmesa2
    mydogmesa2 Posts: 205 Member
    If there seems to be such a big difference in the calories and such from entry to entry make sure you are checking the sering size. For instance I searched hard boiled egg and was confused when I clicked on (whole-egg) and it said 211 calories and my package said 70 calories. I figured out that the serving size had been changed to a whole CUP not a whole EGG! Very confusing! So now i make sure to change it to what im consuming not what it is set at! :grumble:


    Good Luck
  • rheston
    rheston Posts: 638
    why don't you post here an item that you've entered into the database that you wanted to share (with the corrected values) then I can check it out to see if I can see it or if I can possibly help to find out what the issue is so that you can report it.
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